Violence resurfaced on the streets of British cities on Saturday. Several police officers were injured during the fourth day of unrest following the killing of three little girls earlier in the week in a city in the northwest of the country.
Riots erupted as hundreds of anti-immigration protesters gathered in several cities across the country after false reports spread on social media that the knife attack on children taking dance lessons in the town of Southport was carried out by a radicalized Muslim immigrant.
Police have said the suspected perpetrator, Axel Rudakubana, 17, was born in Cardiff, Wales, but protests by anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim demonstrators have continued, turning violent and rioting, most recently in the north-east city of Sunderland on Friday in evening.
Police in Liverpool said on Saturday that a number of officers had been injured while dealing with “serious disturbances” in the city centre.
Authorities in the eastern city of Hull said four people were arrested and three officers were injured as they dealt with protests during which they were hit with bottles.
Mosques across the country have been advised to beef up security measures, while police have deployed extra officers.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, facing his first major test since being elected a month ago, condemned the “far right” for the violence and backed police to crack down. He discussed the unrest in a meeting Saturday with cabinet members, his office said.
The last time mass violence broke out in Britain was in 2011, when thousands took to the streets for five nights after police killed an African-American man in London.
Witnesses in the cities of Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester and Belfast spoke to the Reuters news agency of a tense atmosphere on Saturday afternoon as police tried to contain and avoid clashes between rival groups that involved hundreds of cheering protesters.
Clashes and violence broke out in several cities, including Liverpool, where eggs, beer cans and checkers were thrown, while in Belfast, several businesses reported property damage.
“I don't see any reason why they attacked us,” Rahmi Akyoli said as he stood outside his Belfast cafe, whose glass doors were smashed after being attacked by dozens of people throwing bottles and chairs.
“I've lived here for 35 years. My children, my wife are from here. I don't know what to say, it's terrible,” he said.
At the London protests, police arrested several people, including one who reacted by giving a Nazi salute to a counter-protester.
On Friday evening, hundreds of anti-immigration demonstrators in Sunderland threw stones at special police forces who were deployed near a mosque. Subsequently, they overturned vehicles, set fire to a car and started a fire near a police station.
Four injured police officers were taken to hospital and 12 people were arrested, Mark Hall, chief inspector of Sunderland police, told reporters on Saturday.
“This was not a protest. This was unforgivable violence and rioting,” Mr Hall said.
At least 30 demonstrations were planned in Britain this weekend, the BBC said, along with a number of counter-protests by anti-racism groups.
